


Marry Me John

by rtistik_emz



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Army!stuck, M/M, Military!stuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-23
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-27 09:47:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/977335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rtistik_emz/pseuds/rtistik_emz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What you see causes ice to run down your spine and your stomach and heart to drop to the floor. You fall off of the chair backwards and almost hit the coffee table. Dirk jumps up then and takes a step towards you. You can see his eyes flick up from behind his shades, and he falters. You have never seen Dirk Strider hesitate, ever. The sight causes you to start panicking. You start counting down from five in your mind to calm yourself. </p><p>Five.</p><p>It takes Rose five seconds to tear her eyes away from the open window. </p><p>Four.</p><p>It takes Kanaya four seconds to yell to Vriska in the bathroom.</p><p>Three. </p><p>It takes Vriska three seconds to respond.</p><p>Two.</p><p>It takes you two seconds to jump up off of the floor. </p><p>One.</p><p>It takes Dirk one second to have his leather clad hand wrapped around the door knob.</p><p>Zero.</p><p>There's a knock at the door and everything goes completely, and deadly, silent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Knock, Knock

**Author's Note:**

> this is an au thing I decided to write today. I'll be expanding the story in both directions, through flashbacks and memories and also through the story actually progressing. I know you're all thinking "based on the tags I can totally tell what's gonna happen" and yeah you're probably right but hey you should read it anyway~

"GOD DAMMIT!" Vriska yells, throwing the Xbox controller down. 

You look over at your friend and smile as the TV screen goes dark and the words "WINNER: PLAYER ONE" appear. You feel a little bad, considering she only has one arm now, but she demands to be treated normally so you don't let her know. 

"Vriska, I am, like, the BEST at this game," you brag. 

You hear a scoff from the general area of the kitchen where Dirk is making cupcakes with your cousin Jane. The sight of blond hair reminds you of why you're all here in the first place. In exactly two days, Dave and Karkat were going to be coming home from Iraq, so you and your friends who were home decided to throw a welcome home party. Dave and Karkat had been gone for almost six months, and you'd be lying if you said you didn't miss them a WHOLE FUCKING LOT. Of course, you had missed them in... different ways. 

You missed Karkat because he was one of your closest friends in the entire world. You missed hanging out, having movie marathon weekends, and of course beating him in combat games (you found it funny since he was the one actually in the army).

But Dave... You missed literally everything about him. You missed looking over and seeing pale blond hair falling over dark shades that hid brilliantly red eyes. You missed lying in bed and kissing his freckles to pass the time. You missed the way he would laugh when you did something dumb or told a bad joke. And hey, you also missed the sex, you're not gonna lie. 

You toss the game controller to the couch across from you where Rose and Kanaya were sitting together and crocheting. Rose catches it and raises her eyebrows slightly. 

"You two haven't played all day! Just one round?" You clasp your hands together and bat your eyes over-dramatically.  
Rose gently sets the controller on the coffee table. "Well, unlike some people, we're trying to plan and prepare for the party, like we're supposed to." Her tone is slightly scolding, but her smile tells you she's playing. 

"Yeah! How about you go buy decorations or something," a deep voice calls from the kitchen. 

You roll your eyes and reach for the black controller. "Yeah, yeah. We have two days. I'll get them tomorrow," you compromise as you hit next for the next round. Rose rolls her eyes and looks to Kanaya who smiles knowingly. Vriska shuffles around a bit before she has her controller back in place so she can play.

"You're going down this time," she taunts and the game opens. You just scoff and set out to find and kill the enemy.  
About thirty minutes later, Jane and Dirk come in and announce that the cupcakes are done baking and everyone is required to help decorate. Vriska protests that you two are in the middle of a battle, but you pause the game and get up. Kanaya rises from her spot but Rose stays to finish up the scarf she's currently working on. Why she's making a scarf, you don't know, seeing as it's spring time. You shrug it off and enter the kitchen. Your jaw drops as you see that every flat surface is covered with cupcakes. 

"Jesus Christ, how many are there?" Vriska asks and she walks up beside you. 

"About two hundred and fifty," Jane calculates with a smile. 

You're about to ask why the hell they made so much when Dirk interjects, "The whole complex wants to celebrate with us, so we made some extras."

"Some extras my ass," you say looking over at Jane. She just smiles wider and hands you a tube of red icing. 

"I don't care how you decorate them, as long as it's not obscene," she says, picking up a bright blue tube. 

The five of you start icing. It's slow work, what with Jane's 'no less than two inches high' icing rule, but you're definitely having fun. You take a short break about half way through to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. After opening the door, you immediately jump back as a sword falls out and down to where your foot had just been. Rose snickers behind you. 

"You should have known. We are in the Strider residence, after all," she says with a light bump to your shoulder. You roll your eyes with a smile and grab what you wanted before shutting the door. 

"Well, if people would keep their shit where it needs to b-" you're effectively cut off by a fully frosted cupcake to the face. Your open mouth is filled with the sugary treat, and your eyes instinctively shut. You can hear snickers from everyone, and even full out laughter from Vriska. You don't make a move until the cupcake has slid down and fallen to the floor with a wet thud. You take off your glasses, which are covered in green icing to see Dirk with one hand on the counter, and the other near his mouth as he licks off some icing that didn't make it to your face. You nod slightly as you turn around and pick up one of your cupcakes. Jane opens her mouth in protest, but it's too late. The cupcake leaves your hand and hits the cabinet right were Dirk's face should have been had he not dodged. The whole kitchen freezes, and it takes a good five seconds for an all-out cupcake war to start. Jane is hovering over her already iced cupcakes, refusing to let you use them as ammo. Rose and Kanaya are double teaming and throwing like pros. Vriska has taken cover behind the island in the middle and is shouting things like: "You'll never take me alive!" Dirk is across the counter from you and firing and hitting you as much as you hit him.  
It takes only ten minutes for the whole ordeal to die down. You're all panting to different degrees, but all wearing similar grins when it's over. 

Jane narrows her eyes and counts the remaining pastries. "We have about twenty-five left. I guess it'll just be a house party after all," she declares. You can tell she's not really upset. It's then that you realize that everyone is covered in icings of all different colors. 

"I guess we should, uh, clean up a bit, huh?" you ask looking around. Everyone nods and Kanaya swipes a finger down Rose's face before sticking it in her mouth. 

A good twenty minutes later, everyone is relatively cleaned off and wearing some sort of Strider clothing while their clothes were being washed. You smile to yourself as you plop back down in the chair in front of the front window in the living room, now clad in one of Dave's old red hoodies. You all decide to watch a movie before heading out together to the party store for decorations. 

The sun coming through the window warms you as you lounge, and you think you could go for a nap right about now. You're just starting to get comfortable and doze off when your eyes land on Rose and Kanaya. They're back on the couch and sitting with their hands intertwined. You smile and think of Dave's hand and how it always feels so warm against yours, no matter the occasion. Rose catches your eye and gives a small smile. She turns her head towards Kanaya to say something, but she stops. Kanaya is looking over your head and, you presume, out the window. You start to prop yourself up on one elbow as Rose follows her girlfriend's line of sight. Her face pales and she half rises from the couch, stretching a delicate hand out to Dirk who's leaning against the arm of the couch facing the TV. He notices the movement and looks up and then towards you. 

"What?" he asks. You think he must not be able to see what the girls do from where he is. All of this happens in moments, and your curiosity finally gets the better of you and you lean all the way up and turn your head to see outside. 

What you see causes ice to run down your spine and your stomach and heart to drop to the floor. You fall off of the chair backwards and almost hit the coffee table. Dirk jumps up then and takes a step towards you. You can see his eyes flick up from behind his shades, and he falters. You have never seen Dirk Strider hesitate, ever. The sight causes you to start panicking. You start counting down from five in your mind to calm yourself. 

Five.

It takes Rose five seconds to tear her eyes away from the open window. 

Four.

It takes Kanaya four seconds to yell to Vriska in the bathroom.

Three. 

It takes Vriska three seconds to respond.

Two.

It takes you two seconds to jump up off of the floor. 

One.

It takes Dirk one second to have his leather clad hand wrapped around the door knob.

Zero.

There's a knock at the door and everything goes completely, and deadly, silent.


	2. Chapter 2: Seven Months Before - Swearing Isn't Always Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You love trampolines. Why had it taken you twenty years to discover this? Your feet connect with the black surface and your knees bend to support you. As you rise back into the air you look to your left to see a mess of blond hair flying in every direction. You swear that your heart flies higher than you did, and it won’t be coming back down for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who has left kudos and/or comments!!!! it really means a lot to me!!!!!

You love trampolines. Why had it taken you twenty years to discover this? Your feet connect with the black surface and your knees bend to support you. As you rise back into the air you look to your left to see a mess of blond hair flying in every direction. You swear that your heart flies higher than you did, and it won’t be coming back down for the rest of the day. 

You go to jump again, but Dave doesn’t and the momentum gets thrown off, effectively causing you to fall on your ass. He plops down not-so-gracefully beside you and leans onto your shoulder. You let his weight settle before leaning over onto your side. 

“Daaave!” you laugh with a half-hearted shove to his shoulder. He lets up a bit to let you roll over onto your back. 

“Jooohn,” he fake whines back at you. 

You shift your head so you’re looking into the blackness of his shades. You reach up to touch either side of them and you note, with a flutter in your chest, that he doesn’t even flinch like he used to. You pull them off and he has to blink a few times until his eyes adjust to the fading light. When he looks down, your breath hitches. You don’t know if those red eyes will ever not shock you into a fascinated silence. He gives you a self-conscience smile and you can’t help but grin. God he’s so attractive. You lean up to get a closer look as you examine his face. His eyes dart around, trying to look anywhere but at you. 

“What?” he asks, finally looking back to you.

“Oh nothing. Just admiring the view,” you say as you bring up a finger to boop his nose. You could swear his smile literally lights up the space in between the two of you. 

“You’re such a dork,” he tells you, leaning forward to bump his forehead against your own. You both laugh, you more so than him, and you find yourself thanking any and every deity out there for this magnificent boy in front of you. You bring your focus back to Dave and you notice that he’s leaning slightly closer to you than before. Your face must flush something furious because suddenly he looks worried and is starting to lean backwards. It takes you maybe half a second to reach out a hand and slide it to the backside of his neck. 

“Dave, I-“ you start with a slight pull of your hand, but that’s all you get out. He takes your ‘hint’ and runs with it. He leans forward and your lips meet the soft heat of his. Your eyes slip shut and you exhale happily. You can feel hairs tickling your nose, and you picture the light blond color in your mind. You swear that you can feel time slowing down. 

Since your eyes are closed, you start slightly when you feel the faint brush of something on your back. You quickly relax though because you realize that it’s Dave’s hand. He presses it against the small of your back and you can feel your skin tingling under your shirt. His other hand finds its way a little farther down and you can feel it pulling. You comply and find yourself on your boyfriend’s lap. The movement causes your kiss to break, so you take time to enjoy the scene beneath you. Dave’s face is a nice dark red and his lips are fuller due to the blood rushing to them. You let both of your arms rest on his shoulders. You’re grateful that it’s only the beginning of fall so only one layer is between your hands and the slightly toned muscle beneath his shirt. You were only hesitant moments ago because you were worried about your dad’s neighbors seeing you, but that suddenly doesn’t matter much anymore. 

The hand on your back stays, and the other winds up cupping your cheek as he pulls your face down to his. Your mouths meet again, and this time Dave takes no time in letting you know what he wants. His tongue swipes across your bottom lip and you part your lips rather eagerly. His tongue enters your mouth and you note that he tastes like apple juice and mint gum. You wonder what you taste like. You bring your hands up with wind them into his hair, causing his hand that was on your face to fall away. He places it on your hip and starts to rub slow circles through your shirt. You smile into the kiss as your hand grazes over the undercut he recently had done. You attempt to shift so your necks won’t be at such a bad angle, but when you do Dave lets out a low moan into your mouth. You sit back just far enough to break contact. 

“Did I hit a sensitive spot?” you ask innocently as if you didn’t know that you just grinded down on his crotch. You catch a spark in his eyes before he’s leaning forward so far that you fall backwards and hit the trampoline again. 

He’s hovering over you while using one arm to prop himself up, the other is attached to the hand that’s still gripping at your hip. He leans his face down beside your neck. You tense slightly in anticipation of a bite, but all you feel is hot breath. You know he’s waiting for you to talk so he can cut you off and hear you moan. You decide to try and turn the tables by lifting a leg up so your knee is brushing the crotch of his pants. He gives a sharp huff beside your ear before finally nipping lightly at the place where your neck joins your collar. Your own breath hitches this time and you wrap your arms around his neck above you. He bites harder and you keen softly and bite down on your lip to keep from crying out. 

“John,” he says, and wow that voice was super low and husky and your shorts feel one thousand times tighter. 

You release your lip and apparently he notices that you’ve relaxed, because the teeth are back and biting down again. You moan and can feel his lips pull back in a smile in response. 

You swear this boy will be the death of you. 

He stops biting your neck and trails feather kisses up to and along your jaw line. You’re about to giggle because it tickles, but his lips crush down onto yours once more and your mind goes fuzzy. You’ve made-out with Dave on plenty occasions, but each time he seems to surprise you by how passionate he seems. He always kisses you like you’re slipping away and he’s going to lose you. The ferventness of it all causes you to swoon like a female protagonist in one of the animes. Suddenly you feel a breeze on your stomach, but it’s soon replaced by the heat of Dave’s hand. You can feel where his fingertips and palms are rough and hardened because of all the training he’s been doing. After a minute of feeling his finger trace on your stomach, you turn your head and push his hand away lightly. 

“Dave.” You were trying to sound stern but you notice that you sound more pleading than you had hoped. His lips are back on your neck, alternating between kissing and sucking harshly. 

“Hmmm?” he hums against your tan skin. Despite the fact that that went straight to your dick, you push on his shoulders. 

“Dave! Seriously! My dad is right inside!” you’re protesting even though you know for a fact neither one of you really has a problem with getting down and dirty in your dad’s back yard. But you respect your dad more than that, so you keep pushing his shoulder. Thankfully, he understands and sits up. You follow suit and land a brief kiss on his cheek before getting up. You make sure not to step on his shades that are still sliding around as you head to get off. You feel the trampoline dip down behind you before you feel Dave’s arms wrapping around your waist. His chin comes down on your shoulder and he has his nose pressed into your hair. 

“What are you doing?” you ask with a small laugh. He breathes deeply a few times before answering. 

“Marry me.” 

The way that he says it is so casual that you’re nearly convinced that you must have imagines it. You look over and the smile on his face tells you that, no, you didn’t make that up. You do the only thing you can think of: you laugh. 

“Okay, right,” you scoff playfully. “Is this Dave or his dick talking?” you joke, taking a step forwards so his arms fall away. 

“Oh, come on. Why not?” he asks, trying no to look and/or sound hurt. 

Your face flushes and you start walking towards the house. By the time you reach the back door, you’ve thought of something to say. 

“Ask my dad.”  
“What?”  
“Ask my dad for my hand. If you’re serious about this, act like it,” you tell him calmly. 

His shades are back on his face now, despite the sun having set. He’s still for a moment before he nods slowly, the smallest trace of a smile pulling at his lips. 

“All right,” he says, pushing past you and opening the door. “Have it your way.”

You raise your eyebrows but he doesn’t see. Shutting the door behind you, you enter and head after the blond. 

“That wasn’t a yes!” You call out from one end of the hallway. 

He stops and seems to think again, then looks over his shoulder. “It’s not a yes, yet,” he says in a tone meant to be correcting. 

You rolls your eyes and scoff again, but inside you’re higher than a kite. Sure you know he’s just playing. This isn’t the first time that he’s thrown those words around. ‘Marry me.’ Psssh. Even so, just like the other times, your mind wanders off and starts imagining what it would be like to be married to Dave. You stay at his place most of the time anyway, so you have a good idea. The thought of having something that says Dave is yours, and that you are his, gives you butterflies. The good kind, of course. 

It’s quiet since you’re the only one in the hallway, and if you strain hard enough, you swear you can hear the faint sound of a wedding march somewhere. 

How silly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another short chapter, but after this they'll be longer, unless it's another flash back [like this was] also wow im sorry about the make out scene i have no idea how to write stuff like that so whoops


	3. Chapter 3: Six Months Before - One Week Before Deportation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Johnathan Egbert, you’re my best friend in the entire world, and I have loved you since the first time I ever laid eyes on you. You’re all the good parts of me, and I honestly would die if I didn’t have you around to remind me to breathe."

You’re lying on a quilt in the middle of a small park near your apartment, and you are having an absolutely wonderful day. Earlier that morning Dave had come into the room you share, waking you up with a wad of clothes thrown in your face. All he had told you was to get dressed and ready for a day outside. Of course you went along with it; Dave’s Signature Surprise Days were always fun! 

So you had dragged yourself out of the comfort of the bed and looked over the clothes he had tossed you. It consisted of your nicest pair of light washed denim jeans, a white button down shirt, and your skinny blue tie. You’re brain only questioned his choice for a second and you threw the articles on anyway. You added socks and some relatively nice shoes yourself. After brushing your teeth and hair as well as you could, you grabbed a light jacket from your closet to take along. It was the middle of October, so it would be a little chilly until noon at the earliest. You met Dave in the kitchen where he stood with an arm draped over an actual picnic basket. You noted that he looked rather handsome in his dark jeans, white button up and red bow tie. His new hair cut suits him, you think. It’s an undercut of sorts, and you think it’s funny how the underside is a shade darker because it hasn’t been exposed to as much light as the top side. He flashes you a smile and for the first time you notice that he doesn’t have his shades on. 

“Going commando?” you ask a little surprised. 

He just shrugs and grabs hit own jacket off of the counter before heading out to the car. 

Now it’s about one in the afternoon and you’re hoping to get a nap after eating the picnic lunch he had packed. You feel a nudge to your shoulder and you let out a whine. 

“Daaaave. We’ve been moving all day! Just let me nap, you goof!” 

He responds by nudging you again, but this time with the top of his head like a pet would. You attempt to give an exasperated sigh, but you just chuckle. 

“Okay, okay. I’m getting up.” You brush some grass out of your hair as you sit up. He pushes himself off of the ground and stands, offering you a hand to pull you up. With a smile you take his outstretched hand and let him haul you to your feet. On a split second thought you let the momentum carry and you keep moving until your lips meet his. The kiss was short and not much of a kiss because you were both smiling too much for that. 

“Smooth, Egbert. Smooth,” he comments, mussing up your hair as you laugh. 

“So, John,” he starts, getting more serious, but his smile lingers. 

“So, Dave,” you copy back to him in the same manner. 

“As we both know, I leave out in a week.” That makes your heart hurt and you suddenly don’t want to hear what he has to say. He must be able to see your mood change because he grabs one of your hands and pushes on. “Hey, hey, John, stay with me, aight? So I leave out in a week, and that is gonna suck ass. Now as a sort of forget-me-not, your old man and I have been… collaborating on a..uh.. thing.” He stops for a second to judge your reaction for a second. Other than a slight eyebrow raise, you’re pretty straight faced. “Okay,” he continues. “Okay, well here we go then.” With that he keeps hold of your hand and sinks down to one knee. 

Your breath hitches and you feel your bottom jaw so completely slack. This can’t be what you think it is. Can it? Why else would he be down there? What if this is like in the cartoons where the guy ends up just trying to tie his shoe and you say something awkward? What if- 

Your thoughts abruptly stop when Dave let’s go with one of his hands and reaches into the pocket of his jeans. He pulls out a little, black velvet box and holy shit you’re going to faint, you can just feel it. 

“Johnathan Egbert, you’re my best friend in the entire world, and I have loved you since the first time I ever laid eyes on you. You’re all the good parts of me, and I honestly would die if I didn’t have you around to remind me to breathe. Your dad and I talked it over and everything. You said if I was serious I had to ask him, so I did. And let me tell you something, your dad is a very intimidating man, I never would have guessed.” He stops for maybe half a second to take a little breath and you can feel your eyes getting warm and your nose is starting to tingle with the promise of tears. “So basically what I’m trying to say is, marry me, John,” he finally finishes. He opens the box to reveal a handsome silver band. You hadn’t thought about it until then, but yeah guys don’t really wear the big diamonds around did they? 

You’re blinking rapidly and your free hand covers your nose and mouth in that cliché way that all the girls do when they win Miss America. There are tears now, and all you can do is nod your head a million times. You swear you’re going to snap your neck and your head is going to roll off. It takes Dave a millisecond to slip the ring out of its case and then he’s putting it onto your finger instead. The metal is cool against your hot skin and now you’re laughing and crying at the same time. He stands up and you literally throw yourself at him. He holds you against himself with his arms around your waist, and your arms are squeezing tightly around his neck. His shirt is probably going to be wet on the shoulder that you’re crying on, but you know neither of you care about that. 

Dave is crying now, too. You know because you can feel the wetness against your neck. You swallow hard and you can breathe easier now. You pull back from the hug and Dave looks confused for a second before you can choke something out. 

“Yes. Holy fucking shit, yes, Dave. Of course I will marry you, you giant dork.” Your words sound a little slurred through the tears but they make his whole being light up and then he’s kissing you. You both stand there pressed against each other and kissing for a few minutes before you both need to breathe. Even then, you’re still hugging. A few minutes after that you decide to pack up the picnic stuff and head back home. On the way home you call your dad, Rose, Jade, and even Karkat. They all congratulate you and you could swear that more than a couple of them must have known. 

You look over at Dave as he drives. And wow your boyfriend is just the most wonderful thing ever. No, you remind yourself, your fiancé. Your fiancé is the most wonderful thing ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it was short again but it's still a flash back, and the flash backs are short! im really excited with all of the positive feedback i've been getting!!!! i just wanted to thank you guys because it's really encouraging to know that people enjoy my story and want to keep reading it!! i drew an extra thing that probably happened right after dave proposed because dave is a selfie whore: http://jevpatchcipriano.tumblr.com/post/63864810205/this-is-a-thing-i-did-as-a-uh-thing-for-my-other


	4. Missin' You and Trying to Jerk Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been two weeks since Dave proposed, which also means it’s been a week since he left out overseas. You think it’s fairly safe to say that this has been the longest week of your life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa whoa whoa, what is this? an update?? I know I'm shitty, and I've been meaning to update, but exams and other school work got in the way. Bleh, gross, but that's all over now!! Hopefully I'll even manage another update before Christmas??

It’s been two weeks since Dave proposed, which also means it’s been a week since he left out overseas. You think it’s fairly safe to say that this has been the longest week of your life. All you have managed to do was lay around, mostly on the couch, play video games and stuff your face with food. Also there was that one day that you actually went to work, but who’s counting that? 

Oh sure, you and Dave have taken every opportunity to Skype each other, but it’s not the same as having him right next to you. You can’t just reach out and run your fingers through light-blonde hair, nor can you count his freckles whenever it pleases you. You can’t just sneak up behind him and press your cold hands to his warm chest, nor can you lean down and Spiderman-kiss him over the back of the couch while he plays video games intensely. You can’t feel the heat of his skin pressed to your back as you drift off to sleep, nor can you see the peaceful look on his face as he sleeps. You can’t do a lot of things, and honestly, you’re depressing yourself just thinking about it. You shake your head to clear out the more saddening thoughts and sink farther down into your couch, a game controller clutched in your hand. 

As you watch some guy’s brain matter be splattered all over the screen, you realize you don’t even know what game you’re playing. Probably one of Dave’s. Oh jeez, now you’ve done it. You’re thinking about Dave again. You’re thinking about how he’s probably played and beaten this game countless times while you sat next to him. It’s not that you weren’t paying attention, because you sure as hell were. You just weren’t paying attention to the game. When you find yourself in the same room as Dave, it becomes really hard for you to focus on anything else. How could you pay attention to anything else, when you’ve got the most beautiful thing you have ever seen so close. So close you could normally reach out, grab his shirt collar and pull him into a deep, heated kiss?

You sigh and get up. The game controller lays forgotten on the coffee table, and your game is on an indefinite pause as you pace around your apartment. Dave covers your mind; finding his way into every nook, cranny, and crevice. It truly amazes you how he can manage that without physically being here. It’s almost like you’re in love with that loser. You chuckle to yourself over that. When you settle down you look down at your left hand which is braced against the counter. The silver band on your ring finger is still there, just like when you checked a few minutes ago. The whole fiancé concept is still way new to you, but you are definitely getting used to the idea of it. You never gave much thought to marriage, really. You always saw it was a thing for other people, something that didn’t really spark your interest. Of course, that was all before you met Dave and fell sickeningly head-over-heels for him. 

You’re so wrapped up in thinking back on the earlier days of your relationship, you almost don’t hear a familiar Skype ring coming from your open laptop in the living room. Almost. A half empty bottle of water that you were just drinking on is tossed in the sink, and you hurl yourself over the back of the couch to hit accept. You don’t need to look at the screen name first; you never do. Only one person calls you, and sure enough, the screen loads and you see the face of the love of your life. 

“Hey Egber- whoa dude, how are you even sitting like that?” 

You take inventory of your body and realize that the lower half is propped up and over the back of your couch. Adjusting yourself into a ‘proper’ sitting position, you start becoming self-conscious. Your hands fly to your hair and you try not to smile like a _total_ dweeb. 

“Oh you know, just being my casual self. I swear, I’m not a model,” you joke, deciding that your hair is a lost cause. 

Dave smiles, and it’s that smile that had you falling for him in the first place all those years ago. You don’t even hear what he says because you’re too busy thinking about him. That doesn’t even make sense, but whatever. Dave must have noticed your confused look, because he chuckles and repeats himself. 

“Jeez John, I knew I was dazzling, but I didn’t think it would cause you to be speechless. I asked what you got up to today.”

“Oh you know, just the usual stuff,” you respond, trying to sound nonchalant. 

He nods knowingly before grinning. “So sitting around, playing video games, eating, and jerking off?”

“Yea- hey, now wait a minute, I don-“ Your protest is cut short when Dave laughs, and who can protest against that? Instead you settle for a graceful middle finger, center screen, coupled with a “Fuck you, Strider.”

The blonde’s laughter dies down, and he makes direct eye contact before answering, “Only if it’s you that’s offering.”

Wow, who turned up the heat, because damn it just got really hot in here. Your face flushes, but your voice sounds steady. 

“Well that depends, is that a yes?”

Dave’s eyebrows shoot up so far that they would be invisible behind his bangs, if he had them anymore. You start to back track, but his response stops you. 

“No one else is coming in here tonight, so, I mean, I could…if you’re serious.”

Man if you thought your face was flushed before, you were so wrong because now it’s on fucking fire. “I mean, i-if you want you,” you choke out. God damn that sounded awful, nearly prepubescent. 

He gives a little nod, and your heat leaps out of your chest and resituates itself in your crotch. 

A few minutes later, you’re both a little more situated. And by that you mean that you both have your dicks out. You honestly don’t know where to go from here; you’ve never done stuff over webcam before. Lucky for you, though, Dave does seem to know what he’s doing and he gives you simple instructions to get things going. Your brain is fuzzy, kind of like when you get drunk, but this fuzzy is a million times better. You watch Dave from your couch, trying to forget that he’s not even on the same continent. Of course, his breathy commands help with that. A lot. 

Just as the two of you are finally getting somewhere, you see something move behind Dave, and suddenly there’s light on his end. Light, and cursing, and laughing, and you’re pretty sure Dave screamed. You manage to make out a quick ‘I’ll call you later,’ before Dave closes his laptop. You sit in your living room, completely stunned. You should probably be more concerned about your fiancé, but instead you burst out laughing. You know for a fact that he’ll be fine, minus some serious taunting from whoever caught him. 

Well, normally you would probably just finish up yourself, but that was honestly one of the biggest boner killers you have ever had, so that’s a no. You look up at the tv screen to where your game is still paused from earlier. Shrugging, you snatch it up and flop back into the dip of your couch that has molded to your body recently. 

\-------------------------------------------

It’s been three hours and you’re finally tired of playing that dumb game that you never bothered to check the name of. Vaguely aware that you’re only wearing a shirt, you stand, stretch, and head to the kitchen to check for food. You rummage around the same cabinets for ten minutes before you decide that you have nothing to eat. You shut the one you were currently looking in and lean against the counter. Had things been different, you could call up Karkat and go catch a movie and shitty food. But considering Karkat was in the same squadron as Dave, that was a little out of the question. 

You head to your room to put on fresh underwear and pants as you continue to think over who you could call. You could call Rose, but that automatically includes Kanaya, and you don’t feel like being a third wheel. Dave’s Bro is also an option, but that would just make you think of Dave and you don’t need that right now. You pull out your phone and scroll through your contacts before you finally settle on one. You hit call. 

The phone rings a couple times before you hear it pick up. 

“Yes?” the voice at the other end of the line causes you to smile. 

“Jane! Hey, it’s John. I was wondering if you’d like to go grab a bite to eat? ….. Yeah, I can be over in twenty! …. Okay, great! I’ll see you soon, then.” Jane is your cousin, and also one of your good friends. She also likes to offer to make you dessert after you eat with her, which you always decline, but hanging out with her is still nice. You grab a jacket and your keys before heading out. 

 ----------------------------------------

You stand in the front foyer of Jane’s house and she runs between the kitchen and her room to grab her last minute things. You don’t mind waiting, though, since she _is_ saving you from another night alone at the apartment. 

“I swear I just saw my coat! I’ll only take me a minute to find it!” She’s in a cute, casual, polka-dot dress with little red flats. Her dark hair is short and currently wavy. 

You snicker before giving in and helping her. “Jane. Jane! You handed your coat to me five minutes ago, remember?”

She stops dead in her tracks and stares at you. “Johnathan Egbert! I swear, you’ll be the death of me!” 

“You sound like someone else I know,” you joke, referencing your dad as you hand over her coat. To show her that you can indeed be a gentleman, you hold the door for her on the way out. 

Once you’re both in the car, you start discussing where to go. You knew you should have had somewhere in mind when you asked, because the two of you can never decide on where to go. Jane will suggest something when you insist that she picks, and then you have to reject the idea because she always picks some stuffy restaurant with embarrassingly small portion sizes. 

“For the love of everything good, will you just pick where we eat?” She yells in defeat after her fourth attempt. 

“How about a small place? I know a nice little diner close to here that I think you’ll like,” you offer, switching lanes. 

“That sounds lovely. Now, why couldn’t you suggest that in the first place?” She hits you lightly with her little bag as she laughs. You just shrug and smile in response, and she sighs. “To make up for the trouble you cause me, you have to tell me about how Dave is while we eat. I haven’t heard you talk about him much since he left. I know it’s difficult, but I have faith that the two of you will be just fine.”

You nod and wave a hand at her so she’ll go back to ranting about other things. The truth is you haven’t talked about Dave because that just makes you miss him more, and god damn, you miss that fantastic fiancé of yours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this longer than other chapters? I think so. I tried to make it longer so you're not stuck with tiny, short updates. Thank you to all of my wonderful readers [especially those who comment/leave kudos/bookmark, holla]!!!! Also a huge shout out to my lovely Sora for proof reading my stuff to find litle things that would murder me later~ 
> 
> I was honestly considering expanding the skype scene and not making someone burst in, but then I remembered that I don't know how to write good (even slightly) smutty things, so y'all get this instead, sorry. I think that's all for now so woo!


	5. Not Really A Chapter But Something To Say I'm Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I left you all hanging for like two years I hope you can forgive me

Wow, so I guess I'll start off by saying I'm so incredibly sorry that I just kind of left this story here to die. I had no idea anyone had enough interest in it to actually keep up with it. I really did have every intention of finishing this story when I started it, but I just got busy along the way and then I forgot and now that I look back at it, I really don't have the drive I would need to finish it. SOOOO, for those who were ever interested in what WOULD HAVE happened, I'm just gonna kind of jot it down unofficially. 

Okay, so starting from the proposal scene:  
Dave had to ship out overseas (i think i was sending him to Afghanistan), which left John home in America. John spent time with everyone else (except for the others in the military, ie: Karkat, Sollux, Roxy, ect.) and he would Skype with Dave whenever possible, as seen in chapter 4. One day, after John has his nightly skype with dave, which would be more of a morning skype for Dave, they sign off and john goes to sleep, excited because Dave and Karkat are coming home within the next week. Dave and Karkat are packing up and in their military caravan heading to the plane when a looked over landmine is hit by one of the trucks. 4 out of the 5 trucks are at least damaged, with 2 being completely ripped apart. Karkat and Dave were lucky to be in the unharmed truck, but they couldn't just stand by and watch their fellow soldiers burn to death. The men of the unharmed truck rush in to help, without thinking, and a second landmine is triggered by falling debris. Karkat is knocked backwards and has a broken arm and scratches, but it otherwise fine.Dave, however, was on the other side of a truck from the blast, and he is hit by flying shrapnel. Karkat makes it to Dave's side in time to comfort him some as he dies, but he does indeed die. 

Flash forward to the next day (chapter 1):  
Dirk rips open the door to find two fully decorated officers and a minister. They are let in and break the news to Dirk and Rose in a separate room, while everyone else waits even though they all know. John is a mess, fading in and out of cohesiveness, and being held and comforted by those around him. This is unarguably the worst day of John's life.  
Within the next week, Dave's funeral is held. Karkat is there and everyone forgets the tragedy for a moment to swarm him and cry and thank whatever god there is that at least he is okay. John curses the bright blue sky, because how could any sort of life carry on as normal when his world has just been ripped apart? Dirk and Rose decide to let John keep the ceremonial flag and Dave's recovered things, since they were in fact engaged to be married. 

After that there was going to be a chapter about years later, following John and how his life played out. He never really got into another romantic relationship, but he does spend all of his time with his adopted kids (a daughter and a son), Dave's family, and Karkat. 

 

So yeah that's basically it. If somehow i got paid $10-$20 a chapter, I'd totally finish this, but that's okay. I just wanted to let y'all know how it ended, or how it would have ended. If anyone is interested in contacting me now, my tumblr url is robobirdprince, just hit me up and let me know you were one of the few who read this story and i'll probably cry tbh. I do want to write more stories, soon hopefully. I don't know whether it will be fanfiction or an original work, but I'm definitely open to suggestions. All of your comments made me unbelievably happy, and I hope y'all are doing well!!!! All righty, that's really all I have left to say about this story. I hope you enjoyed it. 

ps: this fic was written with the song "Marry Me John" by St Vincent in mind so you should give it a listen if you just wanna be extra sad.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> i know it was short (i'm just getting started) but thanks for reading! and I'm sorry for any errors I didn't catch in revising this. like i said up top, i'll be expanding this so check back here or my tumblr (rtistikemz) for updates. my tumblr will also probably have art and little extra things along the way so i hope you enjoy!!


End file.
